2009-01-09

life after a date

Got my first camera back in October 2000. I was heading for my second Italian vacation and didn't want to come back empty-handed again. Photography seemed technically complex and just too difficult so I hadn't developed (!) an interest before.

Lucky coincidence #1: Enter the era of digital photography.

Now that did seem a whole lot simpler although quite costly. You don't want to know what I paid for my first equipment, a point-and-shoot with a memory capacity of 64 megabytes. So I finally decided to have a go at the photogenic hobby. My mindset was that of a beginner and rightfully so. I was aiming to document family, vacations, the cottage, ordinary stuff. Printed copies and created albums. No need for a computer just to look at my photos. Oh no. I superimposed dates on all my photos to keep track of them. Worked like a charm.

My interest grew. I paid another fortune for a few additional memory sticks, began traveling extensively within Sweden and spent lots of time snapping photos. In early 2005 my camera was literally worn out. It had served me well but after more than 10000 shots under all sorts of conditions the quality began to fade and it really sounded tired. Or maybe I was beginning to require more? Probably a bit of both. So I got myself another compact. Still a simple model (mind you, a lot cheaper after 4+ years). After all, I was just a beginner.

Together with a couple of friends I began photo-walking through Stockholm and the idea came up to somehow showcase the results of our efforts.

And so pixels was born in October 2005. Now I had a mission. I should learn more about my home town, write, snap photos and present them on a regular basis together with our team. A great way to improve my skills while having fun. Some folks asked about that superimposed date. But it stayed. After all, I was still a beginner so it didn't matter.

Another 10000+ photos later I'm into my ninth year of photography. Someone noted that I'm not exactly a beginner anymore. She did have a point. Now, what I don't know about photography could fill a library. I never attended a course, never read a book on the topic. I haven't even tried using a system camera, let alone owned one. But I like to play with light and colours, angles and movement. I'd like to learn how to take more artistic photos. I no longer confine the results of my excursions to the private album. I enjoy publishing photos on the web, getting feedback and new insight.

This year I want to take the next step. Start experimenting with slightly more sophisticated equipment. Reaching out to a wider audience. Oh, and that superimposed date? Would you mind if I skipped it? In fact, I did on January 1.